2004-11-02 04:00:00 PDT Tel Aviv -- A 16-year-old Palestinian blew himself up in an outdoor market here Monday, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 others, in the first suicide bombing since Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian president, left the region for urgent medical attention in France.

The attack was the 117th suicide bombing since the outbreak of Israeli- Palestinian fighting in 2000. In all, 494 Israelis have been killed in such attacks.

The scene at the Carmel market was chaotic and grisly, with scattered cartons, bits of metal and crushed fruit in pools of blood, the pungent sweet odor of guavas mixed with the rusty tang of blood and explosives.

The bomb, although relatively small, was set off amid a crowd of customers near stalls that sold salads, cheese and clothing. One of the dead was the owner of the clothing shop, who was filling in for her sick husband; another was a young woman who had recently gone to work selling cheese. Wire hangers were bent and charred, and a blouse still hung above the wreckage, with powder burns and holes caused by shrapnel.

From his sickbed, Arafat condemned the terror attack, which was carried out by a young man, Amar Alfar, from the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. The attack also was condemned by Alfar's mother, Samira Abdullah, 45, who said: "It's immoral to send someone so young. They should have sent an adult who understands the meaning of his deeds."

Palestinian officials insist that Arafat is feeling better and that his condition is not life-threatening, but senior Western diplomats in Israel say that these Palestinian statements cannot be taken at face value and are designed to keep the Palestinian population calm. They suggest that Arafat is unlikely to return to his headquarters in Ramallah and will not be able to fulfill his leadership functions as he has in the past.

On Monday in Ramallah, Palestinian ministers held their first Cabinet and National Security Council meetings since Arafat left. The meetings were chaired by the prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, who also criticized the suicide bombing, saying, "Such attacks do not serve our cause amid such a difficult situation," an apparent reference to Arafat's illness. "So we call on everyone to stop targeting civilians," he said.

The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said that "today's terror attack proved there has been no change in the Palestinian Authority" and that Israel "will not stop its war on the murderous terrorism operating against us."

Soon after the attack, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in Askar who was throwing stones at an Israeli patrol, doctors said. The army said it was unaware of the incident.

In Nablus, Israeli troops shot dead three activists who were wanted by the Israeli security forces, Palestinian medical officials said, identifying them as Jihad Abu Salha and Majdi Murei, both 25, and Fadhi Farawan, 20. An army spokeswoman said that during an attempt to arrest five suspects of the Fatah-linked Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the wanted men drew pistols, and the soldiers opened fire, killing three men and wounding one.

Israel military forces killed 165 Palestinians in the occupied territories in October, including 159 in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, making October the deadliest month for the Palestinians since the height of the Palestinian uprising in April 2002.